Christmas at the Institute
by Scoundrel-Vagabond
Summary: Poor Rogue is a bit exasperated with her gifts this Christmas. The Professor offers a solution.


**Disclaimer: I do not own any X-Men characters appearing in this story, they are the property of: Marvel Comics, 20th Century Fox, Stan Lee and a whole bunch of other people none of which include myself. This has been written for purely recreational purposes, I make no money from this so please don't sue.

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Rogue sighed as she opened her Christmas gift from Logan. _'What a surprise. Gloves! What an original idea.'_

It wasn't that she was ungrateful. She was thankful to everyone who had thought to get her a gift; it was just that they all thought to get her the _same_ gift. Gloves. Or if they were _really_ creative a scarf. Both were not so gentle reminders of the nature of her powers.

Still she smiled broadly and enveloped the Canadian in a fierce hug. "They're beautiful Logan. Thank you so much!"

"You still have one more present, Rogue."

Storm smiled in her serene manner and pushed forth another package. Rogue accepted the wrapped gift and felt a growing horror as she recognized the familiar sound of fabric rustling in the box.

'_Let's see what we have here.'_ She slowly unwrapped the packaging and opened the box. Pushing back the tissue paper Rogue was not surprised to see a pair of delicate emerald opera gloves nestled in the box. _'Gloves! Hoorah. Just when I thought I would run out.'_ She lifted the gloves from the box and saw a matching scarf lying beneath them. _'And a scarf. How thoughtful 'Ro.'_

At Ororo's promptings Rogue delved further into the box.

'_Could it be? Is Ms. Munroe going for a Hat Trick?' _She thought with false excitement. A long-sleeved green shirt made of an opaque fabric that shimmered in the light complemented the entire set. _'Yes! Yes! Storm scores. **Goal! Goal! **She has hit the fabled Rogue Hat Trick. Now what is she going to do next?'_

"Oh Ms. Munroe, I don't know what to say. They're absolutely stunning."

"You are most welcome Rogue, Merry Christmas."

Rogue responded in kind and excused herself. She piled the numerous pairs of gloves and the not so numerous scarves in her arms and exited the room.

'_At the sound of the buzzer it's Rogue: 0 and Clothing: 9! Drake scored the first goal of the game with a lovely pair of riding gloves. Lee and Pryde led the charge with a gloves and hat combo. Summers was not denied as he too scored big with his cotton scarf, very practical just like the man! And the incredible Wagner won points with his immensely creative contribution to the team—gloves! Logan rallied the troops in a lagging second half with a functional pair of driving gloves. The indomitable force that is Ororo Munroe lead the team scoring a Hat Trick and earning herself the title of MVP. The crowd is going wild!' _At the foot of the stairs, Rogue was jarred out of her inner commentary by the sound of the Professor calling her name.

"Rogue, I just wanted to give this to you before you'd gone too far. Happy Christmas, child." The professor pushed into her already full hand a beautifully wrapped rectangular package. It was just the perfect size for a pair of gloves.

"Thank you professor. You really shouldn't have though. You've all already given me so much." Rogue trailed off, slightly choked up. Despite their rather frustrating lack of creativity, the X-Men had given her a home and accepted her for who she was and for that she was willing to suffer their taste.

Xavier smiled understandingly at Rogue and watched as she continued on up the stairs. Once she had faded from sight he turned around to head back to his office.

In her room Rogue set down her presents and turned her sights on the gift the Professor had given her. _'Please, God please. After my mutation, I think you owe me one, don't let this package be any form of clothing. _Please._'_

Closing her eyes she rattled the box trying to get a feel for its' contents. Her hopes crashed as she heard a familiar rustle. _'Lord, why do you hate me so? Ladies and Gentlemen we may have just entered a surprising round of Overtime. A hush roll across the crowd as the anticipation builds'_

With trembling hands, she opened the box. She was pretty sure that if inside the box were a pair of gloves and/or a scarf she would scream.

The box was opened and Rogue stared down at it in alarm. Inside was a pair of brightly colored wool mittens. The sort you could buy at any Wal-Mart. Who said God doesn't have a sense of humor?

Picking one of the mittens up in muted disgust Rogue noted that it was much heavier than she had anticipated. She reached inside and pulled out a small heavy object.

It was a lighter.

A high quality Zippo lighter to be sure, but a lighter nonetheless. Absently she wondered if the Professor thought her inner Pyro needed an outlet. Turning the silver lighter over she noticed that etched into its' surface was the name Rogue in a highly stylized script.

'_The Professor gave me a lighter.'_

Even in her mind the thought sounded wrong.

'_The Professor gave me a lighter?'_

'_And a pair of _mittens?Mittens!_'_

Rogue picked up the other mitten and stuck her hand in hoping for some sort of explanation. Her hand pulled back a piece of paper. The handwriting bore the familiar elegance characteristic of Xavier.

It read; _'At this time of the year the stationary outdoor grill is never used. However, curiously one of the groundskeepers swept all the snow off it last night.'_

'_Outdoor grill, huh?' _Rogue grinned evilly, the inner Pyro in her mind was supplying her with excellent creative suggestions. _'Let's throw some shrimp on the barbie and light her up.'_

The gloves did an excellent job of keeping Rogue warm on a cold December night.

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_**A/N: Where this came from I have no clue, but I couldn't get back to writing my five page paper that's due in an hour until I had exorcised myself of it. I might, at a later date, add more chapters with different Mutants in Crisis if anyone is interested.**_

**_For those of you who were hoping that I was posting another chapter of _From the Waters of Lethe_ I'm sorry. But after my finals are done with I might be able to oblige anyone interested with chapter 7. On the bright side its much more action packed and violent than the last couple of chapters!_**


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